Pros

Cons

Buggy.
Missing some big songs.
Curation could be more specialized.
Lackluster social media features.

Bottom Line

Apple Music may be a me-too to Spotify, but the service does have the library, the brands, and some exclusive features that make it a serious streaming-music competitor.

4 Apr 2018Jeffrey L. Wilson

Apple Music, Cupertino's streaming audio service, lets you stream music and music videos on your iOS devices, dive into numerous curated playlists, and find artists using Siri voice commands. There's even an Android version of Apple Music, which is a major departure for Apple, one that shows how seriously it takes music. Overall, Apple Music's many features make this service a strong contender in its category, one that challenges our Editors' Choices, Slacker Radio and Spotify.

Signing Up

A quick refresher for those of you who are considering signing up for Apple Music: It is not the iTunes Store app from which you buy digital music files on iOS hardware. Instead, Apple Music is a streaming music service that brings 45 million songs (and a strong music video crop) to your iPhone, desktop iTunes app, or Apple TV. Confusingly, however, it only gets its own dedicated app on iPhone and Android. On all other platforms, Apple Music's streaming functionality is built into iTunes.

Apple Music offers a three-month trial, which is a significant amount of time to try before you subscribe (you'll still need to supply credit or debit card info, though). After that, you'll need to sign up for a subscription plan. The $9.99 per month Single Membership and the $14.99 Family Membership (for up to six people using iCloud Family Sharing) grant ad-free music listening, ad-free video watching, offline listening, and access to Beats 1 Radio. I like seeing Apple Music and other streaming music services adopt family plans, which is something that Slacker Radio still lacks, unfortunately.

If you're a college student who's enrolled in an eligible college or university, you can subscribe to Apple Music for a wallet-friendly $4.99 per month. Students can take advantage of the discount for up to four years. Spotify and Tidal offer a similar student deal.

Apple Music for Android

Apple Music for Android is very similar to its iOS sister, with a few exceptions. The most obvious one is that Android phones and tablets typically receive Apple Music software updates later than iOS devices. Android fans may find that irritating, but it (theoretically) gives Apple the chance to sort out any potential problems before pushing it to the rival platform.

And, of course, Apple Music for Android lacks Siri integration. I'll touch on the Siri voice command features later in this review.

Putting the Needle to the Groove

The white-and-red layout features large, eye-catching icons that invite you to explore the app. Honestly, that's something that you're likely to do anyway, as the interface features a menu structure that helps you find content quicker than before. Library, Playlists, Artists, Albums, and Songs are all prominent and easy to navigate.

If you just want to play the music you've bought, the Purchased playlist is where you should focus your attention. It let me stream songs from my iCloud Music Library that I bought in the past, even though none of them were downloaded on the iPhone 7 I used for testing. Playlists and saved albums from the Beats Music app transfer over, too. Thankfully, Apple Music lets you download music for offline playback. Unlike the majority of rival streaming music services, Apple Music doesn't let you access your library from a web browser.

As yet another music-related Apple app you'll frequently be using on iOS, Apple Music does a good job separating itself from the regular My Music section where purchased tracks are stored, even though they are both technically the same app. However, it would be nice to see iTunes Store merged with Apple Music to create a one-stop iOS music shop, as the divide can lead to confusion. In testing, I often forgot which app was the streaming app versus purchasing app, which proved frustrating.

Apple Music is also for discovering new music, not just for listening to old favorites. So I hopped over to the revamped For You section and swiped through numerous themed playlists, such as Eric Clapton: The Early Years and Lady Gaga vs. Madonna. Apple must have discovered that people really dig these prefabricated playlists, because the previous For You iteration was an entirely different beast. The older For You tasked you with manually selecting genres using brightly colored bubbles and creating stations around those picks. So, basically, the new For You removes the extra step. Of course, you still have the option to use the search box to find new tunes.

Digging Into the Library

Apple Music features a vast selection of songs taken from the iTunes library, including Dr. Dre's The Chronic and other exclusive albums, as well as tracks from Taylor Swift and other pop acts. I found many Prince albums, too, including 1999, Batman, Controversy, Purple Rain, and Sign 'O' the Times.

You can also listen to radio stations dedicated to certain themes, such as Hip-Hop Workout Anthems and Disney Princess Radio. Apple Music takes a page from Slacker Radio's playbook with the addition of non-music stations, such as NPR News and ESPN Sports.

Meanwhile, Apple's flagship radio station, Beats 1, features tracks curated by DJ Zane Lowe, along with artist interviews. That said, the idea that a single radio station like Beats 1 can be all things to all listeners at all times is antiquated at best and arrogant at worst. Meanwhile, the more specialized stations aren't as well crafted as what Spotify and Slacker Radio offer. Still, one of my favorite uses for music streaming services is queuing up chill instrumental tracks to listen to while editing text like this review. Apple Music does deliver on that front. It's easy to select a favorite song or artist and listen to a station full of similar tunes.

Apple Music's audio quality is about what you'd expect from songs downloaded from iTunes, but not as high as Tidal's Hi-Fi offering. Only hardcore audiophiles will notice the difference, as the audio streams at 256 Kbps. That's a lower bitrate than Spotify's 320 Kbps streams, but Apple's use of the AAC format enables its streams to retain more audio data. In addition, the app now supports lyrics (when they are available), so you can sing along to your favorite song, even if you don't know the words.

If you dig music videos, you'll be happy to know that Apple Music now has a dedicated section for that medium. Though Apple Music has always contained music videos, the service's iOS 11.3 update highlights exclusive content (like A Tribe Called Quest's "The Space Program") and themed playlists (such as "Beats 1 Video List" and "Today's Video Hits"). The videos are tailored to your preferences, too, so it was not at all surprising that I was fed plenty of hip-hop tracks.

Social Connections

Speaking of artists, Apple Music lets you follow your favorite bands, signed or unsigned, using its Connect social network. Here, artists can share thoughts and material that fans can comment on and interact with. For example, Pharrell used his page to debut his single, "Freedom." Other social features include the ability to share playlists, albums, and music videos through Facebook and Twitter. But, again, while this is a pretty, glossy feature, it doesn't offer much that you won't find on other, more open, and more popular social networks.

Connect reminded me of MySpace's major rebranding as a music-focused site a few years ago, and few things are less reassuring than MySpace comparisons. It is cool, though, that your Connect profile automatically follows artists whose songs you've purchased. I like having a big, fat Insane Clown Posse news feed waiting for me without lifting a finger.

What would an Apple service be if it didn't encourage you to use other Apple services and products along with it? You can use Siri to tell Apple Music to play specific songs or ask for recommendations, like The Top Songs of the 80s. Apple Watch owners can sync music to their devices and keep listening even when not paired to an iPhone.

A Fresh Take

The 90-day free trial should be plenty of time to determine whether Apple Music is a service you want to invest in. Just make sure to turn off auto-payments in case you don't dig it.

That said, if you want to use one of the best music streaming services currently available for iOS devices, check out my top picks, Slacker Radio and Spotify.

About the Author

For more than a decade, Jeffrey L. Wilson has penned gadget- and video game-related nerd-copy for a variety of publications, including 1UP, 2D-X, The Cask, Laptop, LifeStyler, Parenting, Sync, Wise Bread, and WWE. He now brings his knowledge and skillset to PCMag as Senior Analyst.

When he isn't staring at a monitor (or two) and churning out Web hosting, music, utilities, and video game copy, Jeffrey mentors, practices Jeet Kune Do, blogs, podcasts, and speaks at the occasional con. He also collects vinyl and greatly enjoys a craft brew.